Ah, thank you. It does say something, though, that I've heard about Prince, despite never listening to any of his music (or anyone else in his genre), but I've never heard of Chyna. Though, I'm no wrestling fan either.

Still, maybe Prince was just more famous.

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There is no plague more evil and vile to watch spread than the plague that is the Von Habsburg dynasty.

I love how the writer dismisses the criticism of racism in America by implying that electing Obama is enough to prove it doesn't exist anymore.

Castro was a totalitarian, oppressive dictator but a racist he was not: he sent Cuban doctors to African countries and supported anti-Apartheid fight in South-Africa as well as the civil rights movement in USA. This naturally also served his geopolitical interests but he seemed to be a genuine anti-colonialism crusader. When it comes to racism in Cuba Castro admitted his failure in fighting it.

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It was particularly illuminating when he informed us that the Cuban Revolution had underestimated the power of racism. As he said at the time, when the 26th of July Movement (the revolutionary organization that led the anti-Batista struggle) took power they thought that it was enough to render racist discrimination illegal and that should settle the matter. The entrenched power of racism, even in a society that was attempting to root it out, was more substantial than they had anticipated.

A totalitarian response of just making the unwanted behaviour illegal ignoring the deeper historical and social dynamics did not work. Surprise.

I love how the writer dismisses the criticism of racism in America by implying that electing Obama is enough to prove it doesn't exist anymore.

Does he? Let's see:

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Regrettably, Cuba is a morally sick nation, a victim of the totalitarian monologue that Castroism managed to establish thanks to the acquiescence of the majority of the population. And the regime continues with its tired spiels about racism in the United States, despite the fact that Barack Obama is still in office, after having been democratically elected for a second term.

This is why it struck me as significant that, at the sessions held this week before the US Senate and House of Representatives, most of the testimonies from dissidents and civil society representatives came from black and mixed-race individuals, reminding us that they are the ones who suffered the most and were most heavily trampled on by the deceitfully liberating stampede of Castroism.

To me, it looks more like the author is pointing out the Castro regime's hypocrisy, as well as saying racism is less severe in America.

Castro was a totalitarian, oppressive dictator but a racist he was not: he sent Cuban doctors to African countries and supported anti-Apartheid fight in South-Africa as well as the civil rights movement in USA. This naturally also served his geopolitical interests but he seemed to be a genuine anti-colonialism crusader. When it comes to racism in Cuba Castro admitted his failure in fighting it.

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It was particularly illuminating when he informed us that the Cuban Revolution had underestimated the power of racism. As he said at the time, when the 26th of July Movement (the revolutionary organization that led the anti-Batista struggle) took power they thought that it was enough to render racist discrimination illegal and that should settle the matter. The entrenched power of racism, even in a society that was attempting to root it out, was more substantial than they had anticipated.

A totalitarian response of just making the unwanted behaviour illegal ignoring the deeper historical and social dynamics did not work. Surprise.

The problem with what you're saying is that Castroism is a major reason why Cuba is still very racist:

Racism in Cuba has been concealed and reinforced in part because it isn’t talked about. The government hasn’t allowed racial prejudice to be debated or confronted politically or culturally, often pretending instead as though it didn’t exist. Before 1990, black Cubans suffered a paralysis of economic mobility while, paradoxically, the government decreed the end of racism in speeches and publications. To question the extent of racial progress was tantamount to a counterrevolutionary act. This made it almost impossible to point out the obvious: racism is alive and well.

And yet, Cuba is no more postracial than anywhere else. Many Afro-Cubans here and abroad have been quick to point out that the presence of Mr. Obama, the first black president of the United States, only highlights that the Cuban government does not reflect the demographics of their country.

On an island that is around two-thirds black and mixed race, according to a 2007 study by the Cuban economist Esteban Morales Domínguez, the civil and public leadership is about 70 percent white. He also found that most scientists, technicians and university professors, up to 80 percent in some fields, were white.

“The images of the meetings, the agreements, they’re all shameful for many black Cubans — I’m including myself in this — because it’s difficult to feel represented,” said Odette Casamayor-Cisneros, an associate professor of Latin American and Caribbean literatures and cultures at the University of Connecticut and a scholar at Harvard University.

She added that elements of Mr. Obama’s trip reflected some of the same dynamics: The Cuban-Americans traveling with the president were nearly all white, as were the Cuban officials who interacted with him on the island. Indeed, much of the audience for his speech on Tuesday was white.

In that context, the president — along with his wife, daughters and mother-in-law, who joined him on the trip — offers a clear contrast.

“What you see is confirmation of black empowerment, which has generally been denied in Cuban society,” Ms. Casamayor-Cisneros said. “For black Cubans, the mere existence of Obama is unusual and overwhelmingly symbolic.”

There's trying and failing, and then there's failing to try. Castro was perfectly willing to fight racism abroad, but when it came to the racism in his own country, he decided passing a few laws and making "racism is over" speeches was good enough. Was he racist himself? I don't know. But either way, his complete failure to tackle racism in Cuba isn't something that can just be swept under the rug.

Besides, saying that the Cuban Revolution was against white supremacy is pseudohistory.